Tweak to format for All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship
By Shane Brophy
The Camogie Association has released its fixtures plan for the 2026 season with an interesting tweak to the format in the All-Ireland Senior Championship.
Senior
The Very National Senior League will get underway on 14-15 February with Tipperary in division 1, and will begin away to Antrim. A week later, Tipp will be on the road again, this time with a much shorter trip to Kilkenny. A two week break follows before they resume on 7-8 March when they host All-Ireland champions Galway, before a week later they travel to defending league champions Cork. The group stage will conclude on 21/22 March when Tipp host nemesis Waterford.
The top two teams will progress to the league final which will be played on the weekend of 11-12 April.
The straight knockout Munster Championship will follow before the group stages of the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Championship will begin on May 23/24.
In a change from last years format where there were a lot of one-sided games, the ten teams will be divided into a group of six playing five group games with the group of three playing three games. The format in terms of the knockout stages will be confirmed by the Camogie Association later this week.
Both will be played in a round-robin format with the with the top two teams from the group of six progressing to the semi-finals on July 25th, with the third and fourth placed teams playing the top two teams from the weak group in the quarter finals on July 4th & 5th. The All-Ireland Final is scheduled for Sunday, 9th August.
Under 23
The first round of the All-Ireland Under 23 Championship will begin on March 28/29 with Tipperary grouped with Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny and Waterford, the draws for which have yet to take place. The All-Ireland final date is May 16/17. A knockout Munster Championship will also be played beforehand.
Minor
The Minor grade will be the first championship to get underway in 2026. The Munster Championship will start in early January before the All-Ireland Championship gets underway on 31st January/1st February with Tipperary hosting Cork in the first round. They will also have home advantage against Kilkenny two weeks later. Round 3 will be on February 28th/March 1st when Tipp travel to Dublin before hosting a highly rated Limerick side two weeks later.
The final round of the group stage will be on March 28/29 when Tipp travel to Galway.
The top four teams from the round-robin will progress to the All-Ireland semi-finals on April 11th & 12th with the All-Ireland Final on Saturday, 25th April.
The Under 16 Championship will begin on the weekend of 7-8 February with Tipperary hosting Waterford before travelling to Limerick two weeks later. On March 7th/8th, Tipp travel to Cork before two weeks later the Premier travel to Kilkenny. The group stage will conclude with a home game against Galway on Easter Weekend, 4-6 April. The semi-finals will be played on weekend 18/19 April.